The charming Riverwalk, just a short stroll from the Alamodome, where the NCAA volleyball Final Four was held, was teeming last week with red-clad Nebraska fans, who were expecting their top-ranked Cornhuskers to not so much win a national championship as to complete a season-long coronation.

Senior outside hitter Sanja Tomasevic carefully cut out the illustration and taped it to her hotel room wall.

"That's all we've been hearing about for the last three months -- that Nebraska is huge; they're big; they're King Kong," Tomasevic said. "We're not intimidated by that."

On Saturday, the Huskies made creamed corn, pureeing the overmatched 'Huskers 3-0 -- 30-26, 30-25 and 30-26 to win the national championship.

Washington, the third seed, became just the second team to go through the entire tournament without losing a game. And Texas only swept five matches in 1988. The Huskies were 18-0 in six matches, and all six were played on the road.

Each player walked away with a blue tile pulled from the court, a memento of a 32-1 season in which 28 opponents failed to win a single game.

What was most remarkable about the week, however, was the complete confidence the Washington players, coaches and, in fact, everyone associated with the team had in their eventual dominance.

Junior setter Courtney Thompson didn't pause when asked at what point she knew Nebraska was doomed.

"From the first point," she said. "I'm not even lying! Throughout the match, we had control. They were on their heels."

To draw another movie analogy, it was like in a martial arts film when the hero turns to his adversary and announces, "Your karate is no good," and then goes all Bruce Lee, a notable UW alumnus.

For the Huskies' first volleyball national championship was a triumph of coach Jim McLaughlin's system: serve, serve receive, ball control and a relentless attack that hits deep and spreads the court.

But, first and foremost, it's serve and serve-receive.

"It's the No. 1 correlation to winning," McLaughlin explained. "It's just not a very glamorous part of the game."

Nebraska coach John Cook wasn't unaware of the Huskies' ball-control skills. He said his strategy was to serve away from UW libero Candace Lee, whose remarkable hand-eye coordination has consistently delivered digs throughout the season that made it easy for Thompson to set up the hitting attack.

Nebraska's plan may have contributed to its nine serving errors, and other Huskies were able to step up in the backcourt.

When asked what went wrong, the Huskers admitted being taken out of their game. But two players offered an identical conclusion: "Washington is a great team."

The Huskies' plan, meanwhile, had few holes. The only change from their typical pre-match routine was watching Nebraska film three times, instead of the customary two.

"Everything (the UW coaches) told us was going to happen, happened," Tomasevic said.

When it was over, the Huskies let go of the businesslike focus that had distinguished their previous news conference conduct. Their championship secured, they arrived singing, and then traded shoulder punches on the podium as they were introduced as national champions.

Lee was still crying tears of joy an hour after the match.

Five years ago, the Huskies finished last in the Pac-10. Last year, they fell in the national semifinals to eventual champion Stanford.

Washington, which was 5-0 against top-10 teams, will lose many of its top players, including Tomasevic, Lee, Brie Hagerty, Darla Myhre and Danka Danicic. But with Thompson, tournament MVP Christal Morrison and Alesha Deesing back next year, it's possible that the Huskies are a budding superpower.

But they'll think about the future later. A team that developed uncanny focus plans to focus on one celebration at a time.

"I love these girls," Tomasevic said. "We are going to be friends forever."